


Thirty Heartbeats

by yayasoba



Series: Magi [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Character Study, Demons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:36:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5812288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yayasoba/pseuds/yayasoba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Survive the first thirty heartbeats. That is how you win the battle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thirty Heartbeats

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by dialogue between Solas and Blackwall. Line near the end is pulled from their party banter. Also posted on tumblr. As always, check there for the earliest postings of all stories, as well as pieces and one-shots that don't make it on here.

_The first thirty heartbeats determine the entire battle against a demon. You last thirty heartbeats, you have already won._

_One_. _Two. Three. Four. Five._  

Usually the first five heartbeats of battle are the fastest. This is when you see your opponent and prepare for the first strike. The first five heartbeats are the easiest.

The next twenty-five are the longest of your life.

“Just survive,” Natalia whispers, her voice barely audible to her own ears. Her old mentor’s voice mixes with Solas’s new advice, a mantra she repeated to herself in the dead of night when no one else was awake. _Just survive_.

 _Six. Seven. Eight. Nine._  

The first blow. Never make the first strike. It is your enemy’s weakness. It’s always the strongest attack, the one that tells you how he likes to attack. Survive the first blow and you already know half your enemy’s mind.

A rage demon. First attack: a fireball. Predictable, and easy enough to dodge, Natalia rolling out of the way with practiced ease.

_Ten. Eleven. Twelve._

This is your counter. This is where you test their defenses.

She aims her staff. She smirks, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Rage, fueled by fire. _And very vulnerable to ice_ , she thought. She savored the feeling of frost at her fingertips for a moment, before pushing the magic outward. The base of the demon froze.

 _Thirteen._  

You have one heartbeat to decide: defense or offense?

It was stuck fast to the ground, the spell creeping up its body slowly. Its arms still wheeled, but it was momentarily distracted.

_Offense._

_Fourteen_. _Fifteen._ _Sixteen._   _Seventeen. Eighteen._

Never stop moving if you want to live. Don’t stop for even a moment, or you will fall.

Natalia raced forward, switching her staff to her left hand and swinging her greatsword out of its sheath with her right. She used the momentum to pull it from her back, forward, down her side, and back up. She saw a rock jutting out, the perfect height for her. She switched her trajectory just slightly, so that her right foot pushed off and she leaped into the air. Her sword came forward in a diagonal motion, slicing the demon from shoulder to lower side.

_Nineteen. Twenty. Twenty-one._

An injured opponent fights twice as hard, but tires twice as fast.

The demon broke out of the ice, its molten body elongating again to replace the part it left behind. Natalia twisted around, just in time to see it lunge forward. She hissed loudly as the red-hot claws sunk into her armor, ripping past metal and cloth. She knew the wound was going to be huge, but adrenaline kept her upright for the moment.

_Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Twenty-five._

She slammed the butt of her staff into the ground, ice shooting from the tip to smack right into the demon’s head. It toppled back, its momentum thrown off. She used that moment to retreat further back, closer to her own party, all of them battling their own demons.

_Twenty-six. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty._

Natalia’s knee slammed into the ground as she threw herself forward, head ducking into her stomach. A jet of flame sailed over her head, hitting the rock wall behind her and quickly sputtering out. Her head whipped back up, braid slapping her back, as she saw the demon advance again. She pushed herself off the ground, grunting in pain as her wound pulled. She switched her staff to her right hand again, her sword going to her off hand.

_Thirty-one._

Survive the first thirty heartbeats, and you’ve already won the battle against a demon.

_You will see the full range of their abilities within the first thirty heartbeats. By then, you should be able to find a weakness and exploit it._

Natalia leaped out of the way, as the demon threw another fireball towards her.

“I win,” she said savagely, leaping forward to slash at the demon again.


End file.
